Alec Baldwin apologizes for gay slur, sort of

By Tony Hicks, Contra Costa Times

Posted:
07/01/2013 02:32:36 PM PDT

Updated:
07/01/2013 02:32:42 PM PDT

Alec Baldwin points to a photo of himself on the front page of the New York Daily News as he talks with host David Letterman about is altercation with a photographer during a taping of "Late Show with David Letterman" in New York. (AP Photo/CBS, John Paul Filo)

Alec Baldwin has apologized for his Twitter outburst last week, in which he called a reporter a "toxic little queen" and suggested the man might enjoy a foot up his rear.

George Stark, of Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, accused Baldwin's wife Hilaria of tweeting during James Gandolfini's funeral. Baldwin responded by threatening the man's life, then deleting his own Twitter account.

Baldwin told website Gothamist he won't be returning to social media.

"Twitter began for me as a way to bypass the mainstream media and talk directly to my audience and say, 'Hey here's a show I'm doing, here's something I'm doing.' But I realized it's something I'm not really ... it certainly isn't worth the trouble," he said.

Neither is an impulsive and explosive temper.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Baldwin apologized to GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

"My ill-advised attack on George Stark of the Daily Mail had absolutely nothing to do with issues of anyone's sexual orientation," he said. "My anger was directed at Mr. Stark for blatantly lying and disseminating libelous information about my wife and her conduct at our friend's funeral service. As someone who fights against homophobia, I apologize."

Baldwin pointed out he'd worked for marriage equality and said he wouldn't advocate violence against people for being gay. Rich Ferrarro, the group's vice president of communications, said

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"Alec Baldwin is making it clear that the intent behind his tweets does not excuse his language, especially at a time when there were 11 incidents of violence against gay men in New York City just last month. As we all work to end such senseless acts of violence, allies like Baldwin are right to use these moments to reinforce support for the community and LGBT equality."

According to the Times, some questioned why Baldwin was seemingly getting off so easy.

"Why does #AlecBaldwin get a pass when he uses gay slurs?" CNN's Anderson Cooper tweeted Friday. "If a conservative talked of beating up a 'queen' they would be vilified."

TMZ flew a headline saying "Alec Baldwin just got a 'Get Out of Homophobia Jail Free' card from the people at GLAAD ..."

Baldwin told Gothamist he didn't believe he used a gay slur, while sidestepping the part about threatening to "put my foot up your ( expletive), George Stark, but I'm sure you'd dig it too much."

"(T)he idea of me calling this guy a 'queen' and that being something that people thought is homophobic ... a queen to me has a different meaning," he said. "It's somebody who's just above. It doesn't have any necessarily sexual connotations. To me a queen ... I know women that act queeny, I know men that are straight that act queeny, and I know gay men that act queeny. It doesn't have to be a definite sexual connotation, or a homophobic connotation. To me those are people who think the rules don't apply to them. This guy could blatantly lie, I mean blatantly lie about my wife on the internet and there are just no rules that apply to him, but that's outrageous to me."

His rant, he said, was not "a call for violence against a specific person because they're gay, it's a call for violence against a person who lied about my wife."